Long-Cooked Green Vegetables

Zytigg

tablespoons olive oil, divided

1 large onion, quartered lengthwise and thinly sliced

1 tablespoon of tomato paste

2 teaspoons grated lemon zest

1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

3/8 teaspoon kosher salt, divided

¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1 ½ pounds of zucchini, diagonally sliced into ¼-inch-thick pieces

1 ounce Parmesan cheese, grated (about ¼ cup)

Cut up the zucchini into 1-inch thick cubes or chunks. Place a colander in the sink, add to it the zucchini pieces, and sprinkle them with the salt, tossing the salt into the zucchini with your hands. Let the zucchini sit there for 20 to 30 minutes, draining. Before proceeding, pat the pieces with a lot of paper toweling in order to dry them off.

Put a large Dutch oven or similar pot over medium heat. Add the olive oil, garlic, anchovies, and red pepper flakes, stirring. When just sizzling, lower the heat a bit and cook until the garlic is golden and the anchovies have dissolved, 5 to 7 minutes. Do not brown or burn the garlic. Add the tomato sauce, parsley, herbs, and basil or mint, stirring.

Add the dried-off zucchini pieces and mix everything together well, bringing the lot up to a good simmer. Cover the pot. Lower the burner to the lowest possible flame and cook the zucchini for 2 hours, stirring every half hour in order to combine the flavors but not so vigorously as to break up the ever-softening zucchini. If even the lowest flame on your stovetop is too much - that is to say, if the zucchini mixture is boiling rather than merely simmering, use a heat diffuser or even cook in a slow oven (300 to 325 degrees).

Remove the lid; turn up the heat. Let any obvious water boil off and stir the vegetables gently a time or two, until there’s a sauce of sorts coating the zucchini pieces, about 10 minutes. Serve warm or at room or ambient temperature, garnished with squeezes of lemon juice and the chiffonade of remaining fresh basil or mint.

Substitutions for the zucchini: 2 pounds, after trimming, of broccoli or cauliflower (2 to 3 heads); long beans, green beans, pole beans; other summer squash (yellow squash, chayote, pattypan, crookneck); yellow or red bell peppers; or a mixture of any of these including zucchini.

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